New
page with Amelia Racea and Claudia Voicu
photos are up on the Romanian team page

17
August 2011

Romania at the EYOF

At
the end of July, Larisa Iordache, Georgiana Gheorghe and Maria Balea
travelled to Trabzon, Turkey to compete at the European Youth Olympic
Festival.
Larisa had a brilliant competition. Her beam is absolutely fabulous
and she has improved tremendously on bars. She won 3 silver and 3 gold
medals.

Sandra
looked absolutely composed today and the determination showed on her face.
Even though this sounds very weird, I have the feeling that her not winning
a medal on floor during Worlds in Rotterdam, made her grit her teeth,
buckle down and fight hard to prove herself and it has done wonders so
far. Sandra is the first Romanian gymnast to win gold on vault since Monica
Rosu in 2004!
Amelia Racea was in the vault final too and went up 4th. Her DTY wasn't
as good as yesterday, her legs were bent and she had a few steps to the
side. Her second vault was executed beautifully, a piked Omelianchik.
She looked a little tired, probably the excitement of yesterday's bronze
medal and not enough sleep.
Sandra's first vault was a DTY, practically nailed, just a slight step.
14.7!! Second vault, Roundoff, half on, front layout half off, stuck!!
Beautiful vault and she's first! Lots of kisses and hugs but she's composing
herself as there were still 2 gymnasts to go. After the competition is
over, she gets a big hug from the Berlin mascot and she's clearly emotional.
Fantastic to see and so deserved after her long fight back from injury.

The
competition started unfortunately with an injury on vault for Aliya
Mustafina. Such a shame for her but also for the competition.
Amelia Racea started on bars and redeemed herself compared to the routine
she performed in qualifications where she sat down after her double
front dismount. She seemed to go really slow though, not the same speed
with which she usually performs bars.
Diana Chelaru started on her favourite apparatus floor and wow's the
crowd with a stuck full in and a beautiful triple twist.
Amelia performed very well on beam and showed for instance a full twist,
front arial, backhand spring to back layout, side arial, side somi.
The only slight wobble came after her pirouette! and she had a step
on her dismount, a 2.5 twist. (14.550)
Diana goes on to vault and had to stand waiting for some time, holding
on to her good luck icon which is sown into her leo and mumbling to
herself, probably saying a quiet prayer. She
performed a DTY with a slight hop on landing.
Amelia had a dreadful time on floor during qualifications so the pressure
was on but she did reasonably well, slight adjustments on landings after
her tumbling runs (triple full, 2.5 twist to punch front) but well enouhg
to keep on challenging for a medal.
This was crunch time for Diana on bars and she looked a little frightened
beforehand. She started very hectic on high bar with a clear hip full
into Gienger, pirouette to Jaeger but she had a dead hang too. Dismount
double layout. It was a little scary to watch as you could almost feel
her panic.
Chelaru had to finish her competition on beam but she's determined and
it showed. She nails the first sequences, front pike kickover, backhand
spring layout to two feet, back tuck, steps back cleanly, backhand spring,
backhand spring to double tuck, small hop back but very good routine
and she couldn't have done more. All she could do is wait and see what
the competition did.
Amelia finished on a strong apparatus for her, and did a DTY, a little
bit of a loss of legs but
good vault overall and it took her into 3rd place. It was almost like
she could not believe she had won a medal and after a disasterous qualification
for her standard, she had redeemed herself fantastically.
I felt a little sorry for Diana though as she competed so well but fingers
crossed for her that she will medal on floor on Sunday.

Just a side note, it's very disappointing to see a medal ceremony on
tv without actually see the medals being presented. A little bit of
a farce for the spectators in the arena who have paid
good money for these tickets and do not see a complete ceremony either.
Apparently the medal ceremony is a good 40 minutes away on public transport
and the gymnasts are rushed out of the arena to get there in time. What
is the point one could argue.

Ana Porgras and Amelia Racea started in the first subdivision.
It's Amelia's first competition this year and she must have been nervous.
Unfortunately she sat down after her double front dismount off bars
and fell on floor but on a positive note, she qualified for the AA final
(due to only 2 gymnasts per country rule) and has a chance to redeem
herself. Ama (as her teammates called her) has qualified in 8th place
for the vault final.
Ana Porgras, who looked so strong in all the training videos that were
shown on the internet, fell off beam on a layout stepout and had lots
of tiny adjustments on beam. Sadly enough she didn't qualify for the
beam final and worse, she was withdrawn from the competition and didn't
compete on floor and vault due to a shank injury.
Things did pick up though. Little Diana Chelaru looks like a completely
different gymnast since
last years World Championships. She looks happy, strong, positive and
is performing great. She qualified in 3rd place for the AA final and
in 3rd place for floor final. For Romanian tv she said: 'If on Friday
I finish 3rd in the
AA, I would be really happy. I want more though, a competition is a
competition and you never know what is going to happen.'
Sandra Izbasa too had a super competition, finishing first on floor
and qualifying for the vault final. The interviewer for Romanian tv
mentioned that she hadn't been on the podium since
2008!! so Sandra set him straight and said 'I was injured, that's why!''
and beamed an all saying smile into the camera. Sandra: 'I felt good
on all 3 apparatus. The final is important but I have faith and will
do everything I can to be more secure on floor. I hope, however, that
I can get onto the rostrum on vault too.' Sandra qualified in first
place for the floor final and 2nd for vault final.
Sadly enough there will be no Romanian in the beam final, very unusual.
The AA is tomorrow at 18.00. BBCi is showing live coverage.

This
year Europeans will just feature an AA and apparatus finals. Ana Porgras,
Amelia Racea and Diana Chelaru will all compete in the AA qualification
and Sandra Izbasa will compete on floor, vault and beam.

In the meantime, Catalina Ponor has decided to come back into gymnastics
and is training alongside the members of the National team. She would
like to try and go to the Olympics next year. She's also lacking a World
Title on floor but that's not her main priority, reports Prosport.

Then another question has been raised about the up and coming World
Championships that are going to be organised in Tokyo, Japan at the
start of October. The worry is the nuclear disaster that is still unfolding
and not under control.
For Gazeta Sporturilor,
Mariana Bitang said: 'They will have to take the best decision for the
gymnasts so they don't have added stress. I'm convinced that they will
analyse everything, moreover because things in Japan aren't at all calmed
down. It's premature to think about it all
at the moment. These World Championships are very important because
they decide the qualifications for the Olympics in London. With all
due respect for the Japanese people but I think that at the moment,
they have other expenses without having to organise such a competition.'

Ana
Porgras, Diana Chelaru and Sandra Izbasa will compete at the World Cup
in Paris this
weekend. Only gymnasts who were finalists at the World Championships
in Rotterdam were
invited and the 4 best gymnasts per apparatus from 2010.

The girls have been training extremely hard, trying to upgrade their
routines and looking at the videos of news items, they have improved
enormously and look very strong. Octavian Bellu explains that everything
is in preparation for the Olympics in London next year, whether they
compete at Europeans or any other competition. For
Prosport he said: 'It's a competition in
which everybody will have to show where they are exactly in training.
It's important to see the girls in competition, how they feel competing
instead of being in the gym and how they adapt to the atmosphere and
spectators. I will draw my conclusion after the competition.'

The
World Cup in Cottbus, starting tomorrow, would have had a fabulous line
up with Amelia
Racea, Sandra Izbasa, Diana Chelaru and Ana Porgras. The girls would
have arrived on Thursday evening as the qualification competition was
going to start at 14.00 on Friday, leaving them one training session.
However, the organisation decided to change the schedule and
putting the qualifications forward to 10.00 on Friday, leaving the girls
no time for training what
so ever so Mariana Bitang thought it was better for them to withdraw.

Prosport's
journalist Mirela Basescu wrote a wonderful article about Cerasela Patrascu
and here's a summary of the story and interview.
Straight after she turned 18, Cerasela Patrascu retired from gymnastics
to everybody's surprise. She stayed in Deva to finish school and helps
out coaching younger gymnasts.
Cerasela's story isn't about gold, about the medals and getting onto
the rostrum during her 11 year and 8 month long career but it's a story
about a broken dream, about the fight of a talented gymnast who tried
to get back to the top of gymnastics after a serious injury and after
two years, winning the fight with herself and then put an end to it.
Very few people understood why she finished her career as she helped
the team at Worlds in 2010 by performing on 3 apparatus: beam, vault
and bars.

They are outside, high up above the town of Deva, early morning while
the thick fog is still covering the city.
'I was born a talent and I died hope'

Cerasela doesn't regret having retired from gymnastics while so many
think she could have still done more but she explains that she had a
lot of health problems and she decided it was enough. Moreover, she
wants to do something else.
From Bals, Cerasela was considered one of the most talented gymnasts
of her generation, a bar specialist with an extraordinary flexibility.
Cerasela: 'I wanted to be famous, to hear the National Anthem play for
me, to be the best. I wanted that for myself so much. Everybody said
<You can do it, you can do it!> but why if I could do it, didn't
I succeed? I was born a talent but I died hope,' she teaches us a lession
in reality. You can see the sorrow behind her big brown eyes, that fill
themselves with tears.

Thousands of hours of training, hope and dreams, everything
destroyed in one single moment. A wrong landing off bars at the European
Championships in Clermont Ferrand, France and both knees badly damaged.
She explains that on the 5th of April 2008, at 17.00, everything was
shattered for her and it was her only disappointment in gymnastics.
Cera: 'At that time they put a lock on my life and I have never found
the key because I gave up physically too. Wishes, dreams, everything
came to an end and I got to the point that I had nightmares about that
moment,' she explains.
She isn't satisfied about what she has achieved in gymnastics, she feels
she could have done more. Her dream was to win an individual medal on
beam and to go to the Olympics but she doesn't have any regret that
her parents took her to the gym as she doesn't lack anything and she's
had the best childhood that a child could wish for.

For 2 years after the accident, she fought with herself, with weight
issues. She had to grit her teeth during training but she got there
in the end and competed at Worlds where she helped the team on bars,
beam and vault but nothing was the same as before. She describes the
last two years as a nightmare because of all the injuries and failures
and wondered why this was only happening to her. She will still be involved
in gymnastics, how couldn't she after being involved for so long. She
would like to become a coach and if she couldn't do it for herself,
then maybe she can help others to achieve their dream. Currently she's
helping a group of 13-15 year olds
but also a second grade group with little ones that she helps execute
their movements correctly. 'What is Cera the coach like?' 'Too good!,'
she laughs.

At the moment her life doesn't differ so much as when she was a gymnast.
She's still staying in the same room in Deva and goes into the gym where
she used to train for the last 10 years. Now she's retired, she has
a different view on things and thinks all the thousands of hours training
were worth it but while she was on the team, she didn't think so, she
thought it was too much work. She hasn't got any regrets as gymnastics
made her the person she is today. A forgiveness with herself and to
continue a dream that she will live through others, her own pupils.

She's not frustrated that she never won an individual medal as she understood
that she was a team player and that she was good on two apparatus.

Does she have any regrets about gymnastics?.
Cera: 'That I tried to stick the landing at Europeans. At the training,
I could never do it so I tried to do it really well in the competition,
to help the team so we would win.'

She didn't want to get onto the rostrum during the medal ceremony and
explains that she felt guilty that she couldn't help the team more.
If she hadn't made the mistake, she would have had the second highest
score on bars and would have qualified for the event final.

Asked how she can sum up her career in three words she answers disappointment,
satisfaction and appreciation and since she's retired she has learnt
to be more realistic, to pay more attention to the people around her
and she has matured so much since she retired.
Cera won two important medals with the Romanian team: gold at Europeans
in 2008 and bronze at Worlds in 2007 and the sports arena in Stefanesti
will carry the name Cerasela Patrascu in the spring.

About her family she admits that she loves her parents and sister but
she never showed this to them and during the difficult times, she sought
their support but also from the coaches that she worked with. She acknowleges
that her parents and older sister are the most important thing to her
and she loves them so much. She's happy that she has a family who understands
her and who lets her do what she wants, to let her make her own decisions
and then support her.
All of a sudden she goes quiet and her eyes well up with tears and for
a little while, she's trying to find the right words: 'In the last two
years I've become estranged from my father who left for Italy to work
there. I would like to ask him for forgiveness because he loves me more
than anything and I haven't appreciated this. I wish from the bottom
of my heart that it could be as it was before,' she sighs.

We wish Cera all the best for the future and thank her for her wonderful
gymnastics. She will be missed.

Beam is always nerve racking to watch but Ana makes it look easy. With
elegance, she moves from one element into the next. She had a little
hesitation holding her leg up alongside her ear as she let her leg go
but other than that, it was near perfect.
It has been 9 years since Romania won a gold medal at a World Championship
when Andreea Raducan won a gold on beam in Ghent. Romania now has another
queen on beam, Ana Porgras.
She doesn't let the medal go to her head though and immediately specifies
that she has a lot of work ahead of her, she will learn from this experience,
she will work even harder to become even better. A World Championships
medal doesn't make you better, it's a medal and if you want to
win more, you'll have to work hard, maybe even more so than up to now.
In an interview for Gymmedia, Ana seemed clearly emotional, her voice
wavering a tiny bit.
Ana: 'I don't have words to describe it, this medal is great. When the
national anthem was playing, you think about all the work that has gone
into it, the sacrifice, the work in the gym, when it was really difficult,
when you think you can't go on, you think of these moments like this
and you get through it all a little easier.'

On floor, Sandra Izbasa landed her second tumbling run out of bounds
and also landed on the line with her third tumbling. She was devasted,
she sat crying for quite a while and one would have definitely wished
her a better comeback. She seems to be so unlucky at Worlds on floor
as she hasn't won a World's floor title yet. Her comeback was amazing
and we wish her the very best for next years Worlds in Tokyo.
Diana Chelaru did really well. She stood waiting to begin, with her
hand on her shoulder where she's probably got a lucky charm sewed into
her leotard, something Steliana Nistor used to do
too. She performed a good routine, only had a slight step to the side
after her flick triple twist.
She received the same score as Mustafina. Diana sat, chatting to Ana
Porgras, still holding her shoulder for good luck. Unfortunately the
gold medal was snatched away by Lauren Mitchell, who to everyone's surprise,
won the gold medal.
For Aegerpress, Diana said: 'I knew I was prepared. I didn't look at
the results table or at my competitors, I only thought of the job that
I had to do. The coaches have helped us so much
but we have worked really hard, we put our soul into it. We wanted to
show clean routines and after that, the difficulty will be added.'

Ana
Porgras competed well in the AA, doing her routines without making big
mistakes. It's a shame she lacks the big difficulty (except for on beam)
on the apparatus but once she's added elements to her routines, she
will be right in contention for an all-around medal.
Ana was happy with her 5th place, considering that only a few months
ago, she was injured, had her leg in a plaster cast and obviously couldn't
train. Looking back, she admits that she made a few mistakes and if
she hadn't made them, she could have finished a little bit higher in
the rankings. She is very happy she didn't encounter any falls in the
4 days that she has been competing which gives her a lot of confidence.
Looking ahead to next years Worlds in Tokyo, Ana will be better prepared
than now with routines that are at the same level as her competitors
of the Rotterdam worlds: 'After these worlds, I will have a better training
period as I'm healthy. I don't have a good vault and I need to work
on vault and floor a lot to be able to catch up with the girls. Because
of my injury, I couldn't train as I wished and you could see that. I
can also get a little better on beam and bars where I can improve things
to perfection but first of all I need to increase the SV on vault and
floor to be able to become a champion. I need to learn these elemnts
soon and to fix them so I can compete them.'

Raluca Haidu did well and redeemed herself for the fall off beam, staying
on this time with her tucked full. She did however make a mistake on
bars but seeing that she's only 15, this will be a huge experience for
her which will help her to become a better gymnast. She acknowledges
that a period of a lot of work lies ahead of her to get her routines
increased in value but also to work on being more certain and getting
more belief.

The team final unfolded yesterday and it promised to be a massive
competition but it finished up being a splatfest of both the Russians
and Chinese and also the American team encountered a messed up floor
routine. Dementieva and Nabieva fell off bars, Nabieva even fell twice
and the Chinese messed up bars too, normally their strongest apparatus!
Jiang fell and then Huang couldn't continue after her Pak and came to
a standstil on the lower bar.
Mattie Larson from the USA messed up her floor routine by not performing
one of the planned acrobatic skills and all three Americans were extremely
lucky to stay on beam, Alicia Sacramone's foot was completely off and
the other foot was only half on!!
All the more disappointing for the Romanian team who didn't encounter
any falls and did a very good job but finished up without a medal. It
must be somewhat bitter for them that Ana Porgras performs a good routine
on bars (14.466), has a bit of a low landing but doesn't score higher
than Huang who messed up her routine completely (14.750).
Gabi Dragoi performed as a trooper, having problems in the qualification,
she now performed a good routine with the planned 1.5 turn to Jaeger
and a good Gienger.
On beam, Sandra Izbasa started for the Romanians and performed a solid
routine, with a huge punch front but she had a small wobble after her
pirouette and she wasn't completely round after her triple twist dismount.
Ana Porgras is of a class of her own on beam and it looks easy when
she shows off her skills like
a beautiful free walk over into Sheep jump, back handspring, back handspring,
layout as solid as
a rock but she did endure a wobble on her side somi. ( 15.066)
Diana Chelaru looks like a completely different gymnast compared to
a few months ago. She is positive and performs so well under pressure,
and she showed off a good floor routine, starting with a high double
layout for a 14.773.
Ana performed beautifully, she stuck her full in, had a beautiful switch
ring to switch half but was only rewarded with a 14.100 to everybody's
amazement. Not sure what the heavy deduction was for at all.
Sandra Izbasa was up last and she nailed her opening tumbling pass,
a super high full in but unfortunately she landed out of bounds with
one foot on her last series, a 2.5 to front full and looked very upset
afterwards. (14.200) She sat on a chair with ice on her ankle so fingers
crossed she didn't injure herself.
All three Romanians vaulted extremely well and it shows that they have
been working very hard. Tiny Raluca Haidu did a super job on her DTY
for a 14.866, and Sandra and Diana both scored a 14.700 for their DTY's.

After the competition, Ana Porgras said for Aegerpress that she felt
that they had fulfilled their goal and that they had a good competition
but that the problem with the difficulty remains and that they need
to learn from this experience. A difficult period will follow, it also
depends on each individual gymnast but she hopes that next year things
will be better.
Raluca Haidu said that she was happy that she performed a good vault
and that it was better than at Europeans as she progressed on other
apparatus too.
Diana Chelaru specified that she wasn't interested in the score and
the place that they finished but she was happy that they all did a good
job and that they competed without mistakes (falls). They will work
on the difficulty.
Gabi Dragoi wanted to redeem herself after making mistakes in qualifications
and she did.

The entire final left one a little bemused afterwards and wouldn't it
be time to change this ridiculous format 6-3-3 back to a proper team
competition 6-6-5 because let's be honest, this format looks more like
a circus act than gymnastics.
The code is so biased towards bars and somewhat to vault, that you can
have one Olympic Champion who has a 7.4 SV on bars and another Olympic
Champion who has a 6.0 SV on floor. It doesn't need a mathmatician to
work out that any team who has top bar workers, has an
extreme advantage as the code doesn't allow for a 7.4 SV on floor, no
matter how good you are.
Surely things need to be evened out more if they are going to stick
to this horrible format.

The
girls are getting ready for the team finals. In the meantime, the coaches
have picked 3 gymnasts for each apparatus:
Bars: Haidu, Porgras and Dragoi
Beam: Izbasa, Porgras, Dragoi
Floor: Porgras, Chelaru, Izbasa
Vault: Chelaru, Haidu, Izbasa

Romania is in the same group as the USA. On floor, the Americans will
go up before the
Romanians but the Americans vault last.

For romgym.ro, the
Official Romanian Federation site, Sandra Izbasa appeared optimistic
and is convinced that Romania will get onto the rostrum. She wanted
to start on bars and explains that her teammates have to get used to
this format of competition. She says that anything can happen with 3
up 3 scores count. She doesn't really understand why people are saying
it's going to be more difficult than it was at Worlds in Aarhus in 2007
because it's always difficult but she feels that Romania has a strong
team too and she always sees Romania on the podium.
Sandra is in the floor final and has the most difficult routine but
that doesn't automatically mean that she is going to win a medal. Sandra:
'I need to work very hard on the landings. It's hardly been a year ago
since my injury and I had to learn how to land again in a very short
period of
time. The apparatus here are very hard. I have the most difficult floor
routine but I have to perform it clean to be able to get on the rostrum.
For a small step, the deduction is 3 tenths!'

Diana Chelaru said after the training yesterday that she hopes everything
will go well, that she sleeps well and that she will be in good shape.
She doesn't think the competition is going to be very difficult.'

Ana Porgras explains that they are very well prepared and it's important
to be strong, to do their routines well and the team which stays on
the apparatus most, will get onto the podium.

17
October 2010

Octavian Bellu

Octavian Bellu decided not to
be on the podium with the girls and one could see him coach them from
the stands and let the other coaches handle it. The other coaches, Lili
Cosma, Lucian Sandu and Marius Vantila, know the girls well after being
with them for years and know how to communicate with them, how they
react and how to respond. You can not build a relationship
like that in 3 months time.
For Aegerpress, he explains that after 2 and a half months of preparation,
the girls have competed to their ability and to not forget that 2 and
a half months ago, most of the girls were trying to recover from injuries.
He says that losing Amelia Racea to a strained muscle in her back, was
a loss and they didn't want to force her to compete as she could injure
herself even more.
That having Sandra Izbasa back on the team is an enormous help as she
can motivate the younger girls during the competition, she inspires
them and encourages them. With Sandra alongside them, they have much
more confidence, faith and courage. After all, she is an Olympic Champion.
He's witnessed, however, how some of the girls rise to their ability
during the competition and perform good routines but others, who do
well in training, are negatively affected by the nerves of the competition
so for him it's very difficult to make any predictions about the outcome
of this competition.
He is going to see what the difference is between them, USA, China and
Russia and then decide what they can do to prepare for the Olympics
in 2 years time.
Octavian Bellu has been welcomed warmly in Rotterdam: 'They have welcomed
me very warmly,
I was even honoured in the way that I was met by officials and colleagues.
Maybe I have even brought something into gymnastics in the 24 years
that I have been coaching as in it's turn, gymnastics has given me a
lot of satisfaction. I'm in a very well known surrounding.'

Ana Porgras and Raluca Haidu are qualified for the AA. Porgras qualified
as 6th and Haidu as
12th.
For the apparatus finals, Diana Chelaru qualified for vault (8th) and
floor (6th), Ana Porgras qualified for bars (7th) and beam (1st) and
Sandra Izbasa qualified for floor as 3rd.

16
October 2010

Romania competed relatively well in qualifications

Unfortunately
Amelia Racea had to withdraw due to an injury which would really hamper
Romania's scores as Racea had improved on bars tremendously.
Romania started in subdivision 3 and must have been a little nervous
after seeing China post such a high team score 233.778.
They started on bars, not their most favourite apparatus. Raluca Haidu
started on bars with a Gienger and a full twisting double back dismount
for a 14.000
Next up was Gabi Dragoi but she started to struggle. She was supposed
to do a point on to full turn but performed a 1.5 and had to improvise
and did 3 1/2 giants to get back to where she was supposed to be! 13.366
Cerasela Patrascu is a beautiful bars worker, performing a beautiful
Shaposhnikov, stalders and Tkatchev but then she sat down on her double
front dismount, 13.300.
Ana Porgras had a clean routine and performed a stalder, 1 1/2 to Jaeger
and a double layout dismount for a 14.733.
Diana Chelaru showed a Gienger and Jaeger and a double layout. Her SV
was increased from 5.3 to 5.4 which earned her a 14.000.

On to beam and this is the apparatus where Romania has to make up for
the lower scores on
bars.
Isn't it great to see Sandra Izbasa back into competition! She was up
first but had a wobble
after her front aerial, back hand spring layout. Her triple dismount
was a little short. 14.333
Cerasela Patrascu is so flexible and it shows on beam, especially in
her sheep jump. She also performed a front tuck, aerial-back handspring-
layout and a pike gainer dismount 14.000
Ana Porgras is in a class of her own on beam and her 2 feet back handspring
to layout was huge. She showed great split leaps and her score was the
best of the day so far 15.266 (SV 6.4)
Gabi Dragoi started well, tuck front, aerial back handspring layout
but then crashed on a double turn. 13.400
Everything depended on Raluca Haidu now but she has been struggling
in training to stick her full in. Her mount is original, variation on
the Silivas mount and then comes her big skill. It looked awesome until
she put her hand down and fell. She also encountered a big wobble on
her switch side leap. She dismounted with a double pike for a 13.366,
the lowest score of the team on beam while she should be one of the
highest together with Ana as her SV is 6.0

Despite finishing last on beam, Haidu was first up on floor and showed
a positive routine, triple twist, full in, 1.5 twist to double full
and a stuck double pike. The crowd loved her. 14.200
Diana Chelaru tumbled a high double layout, whip to triple full, tucked
full in and double tuck with a tiny step back 14.466.
Now la moment supreme, Sandra Izbasa on floor and wow did Romania miss
her while she was recovering from her torn achilles! First line, a high
full in, then a 1.5 roundoff triple full and a 2.5 to front full with
a small bounce. SV 6.0 and a 14.776! It's great to have her back.
Next up the ballerina of gymnastics, Ana Porgras. She was very low in
her first series, full in. Her second acrobatics series was perfect,
a 2.5 punch front a beautiful double turn with her leg up next to her
ear, a double tuck and finished with a double pike, a tiny bit low.
14.066.

Raluca Haidu started on vault with a DTY 14.633
Cerasela Patrascu performed a single Yurchenko twist 13.733
Sandra Izbasa performed a DTY!! with just a slight step to the side
14.833
Diana Chelaru DTY 14.600 but legs a little split and she also performed
a second vault,
handspring with full twist in tuck position 13.433 (SV 4.8, dropped
from 5.3 and not sure why)
Ana Porgras single twisting Yurchenko 13.833

The World Championships in Rotterdam
are on their way with the official podium training today.
The Romanian team is: Ana Porgras, Sandra Izbasa, Cerasela Patrascu,
Raluca Haidu, Amelia Racea, Diana Chelaru and Gabriela Dragoi. Initially
Amelia Racea was announced as being the reserve but as she looks brilliant
in training, it will remain to be seen who will be the actual reserve
when the competition starts.
It's great that Sandra Izbasa is back after her terrible injury. For
Prosport she explained
that she isn't thinking about winning a medal and just wants to help
the team and see how her new floor routine will go.
Octavian Bellu explains that most of all the girls will fight against
themselves as many have come back after a long break due to injury.
He is looking at these girls to see the potential for 2011
and 2012.
Mariana Bitang is not going to be at the World Championships as coach
and that will be difficult for the girls as she motivates them.
Octavian Bellu himself is also not going to be present on the podium.
He will leave that up to Marius Vintila, Lili Cosma and Lucian Sandu
as they have been working with the girls for the last years.

First of all many apologies for
not updating the site for so long. Sometimes it's difficult to find
spare time to keep the site up to date.
In the weekend of 13-15 August, the Romanian team came to Ipswich again
to compete in a friendly competition against GB. Coaches Octavian Bellu
and Mariana Bitang decided to send a team that needs experience but
also needs to see how injured gymnasts were doing at the moment so Gabriela
Dragoi, Cerasela Patrascu, Raluca Haidu, Daniela Andrei and Diana Trenca
were chosen to compete.
It was wonderful to see Gabriela and Cerasela again and both have improved
tremendously and seem to be recovering from their injuries quite well.
Gabi struggled a little bit on beam but her SV on bars was 6.0. She's
working hard on bars and shows a Jaeger and Gienger in her routine,
plus a lot of turning combinations on the high bar.
Cerasela still swings beautifully on bars, showing her Shaposnikova
and stalder combinations and her double front somi is back in her routine.
Unfortunately in Sunday's finals, she fell off bars.
Her beam routine was beautiful to watch and is packed with difficulty.
She does however compensate on the dismount (Auerbach (Gainer?) piked
somi) as she's still a little afraid to dismount off beam and on Sunday,
Cera won the beam final which must be a huge boost for her confidence.
It was very sweet to see how she 'mothered' over her teammates, how
she helped them to stay calm when they were nervous before their routine.
Raluca Haidu, who's still only 15, did well on bars and on beam but
she too had a simple dismount, (tucked single somi) probably to protect
her ankle. She qualified for the beam final but the coaches decided
to put Diana Trenca in the final, maybe to give her more experience.
I'm not sure if this put Raluca in a not so happy mood on the Sunday
or what the cause could have been for her moodswing but the smiley girl
from Saturday, changed in to a tearful sad girl. She sobbed when she
fell on her double Yurchenko on vault and from that moment onwards,
she withdrew herself, even though she had a floor final to contend in.
She stumbled a bit on her opening series double pike but showed a beautiful
leap combination and she finished with a 2 1/2 twist and received a
big hug from Gabi Dragoi, who tried to cheer her up a bit.
I had never seen Dana Andrei or Diana Trenca compete for that matter
so I was very curious about the two gymnasts and they didn't disappoint.
Dana Andrei is a very precise gymnast, she has good form on bars and
is excellent on beam and floor. Her floor routine is elegant for such
a young gymnast and her style of working reminded of Ana Porgras. She
loves to twist and started with a triple twist and back to a 2 1/2 twist
into punch front. Dana did so well, that she finished second AA, above
the more experienced Haidu. On Sunday she was a bit wobbly on
beam and almost fell off on her change leap half turn and had to put
her hands down after her dismount.
Diana Trenca is the shy girl of the team and on Saturday she seemed
a little nervous but she performed well. On Sunday she blossomed and
came out of her shell. She excelled on beam, showing a combination of
free walkover to flick layout, which won her a silver medal and the
crowd loved her floor routine which she performed with a smile. She
started with a full in, straight back into a double tuck and her 3rd
line she showed a 2 1/2 twist to punch front.
All in all I think it was a good test for the girls, a test on which
they can build for up and coming World Championships.

Surprise of the week is possibly the news reported by Prosport
that Steliana Nistor had been called back by Bellu and Bitang to train
with the team but she only stayed a week and then left for Norway where
she is going to coach young girls. Stela, who had been to Norway to
check out the possiblity and to see if she liked it there, has a contract
for a year.
Her mother is looking after her rabbit while Stela is away.

15
July 2010

Claudia Voicu retires

Even before she could become the star that she had all the potential
to become, Claudia decided to retire because of knee problems. She sustained
a few light injuries to her knees but she constantly complained about
pain, even when she was doing basic moves.
Claudia sparkled at the junior Europeans in Clermont-Ferrand in 2008,
her poise on beam was beautiful and her floor routine delightful. It's
a great shame that with such a bright future, she has had to retire
and we wish her all the best.

5 July 2010

Nicolae Forminte is back!

After
resigning a month ago as headcoach, Nicolae Forminte changed his mind
and is back with
the National team who are currently training in Izvorani.
For Prosport he
declared that he invested 5 years of hard work with the team as a 'soldier'
for
the Federation and that the team was the most important now. He's waiting
to see in what kind of way he can be of any help.
Anca Grigoras explained that Forminte came back because he's found peace
within himself and
it's up to him how he fits in but she thinks he will be a good member
of the team that has been formed. He's a (vault?) specialist and they
need the very best.

The team is staying in Izvorani all summer instead of going to the sea
side like they do every
year. Anca Girgoras explained that there is a lot of work to be done
and the time to Worlds is very short. After the Europeans the girls
had a break, some of them were injured so they can't lose any time.

The first test will be in a competition against Great Britain in Ipswich
from the 12-15th of August.

24
June 2010

Anamaria Tamarjan is thinking about retiring

Anamaria
has been struggling with injuries for quite some time and has been thinking
of retiring
for a while now. She stayed in Deva to solve school issues.
The gymnast from Ploiesti underwent an operation at the start of the
year to remove a cyst on her left knee after she had keyhole surgery
on her right knee at the end of 2009 in which they diagnosed a chipped
meniscus.
Anca Grigoras explained for Prosport:
'It's normal that Ana is thinking of retiring because of the injuries
and operations. The recovery time was really long, she matured, everything
changed and she had to face problems that all girls at her age have
to confront. We hope that she has the strength to get through it and
come back to us.'
Anca Grigoras also added that the door is always open for Anamaria just
in case she changes her mind and that they will welcome her back.

The Romanian Gymnastics Federation has launched a new site which looks
brilliant. It has the latest news, photos etc. It's lovely that they
have included photos of the former gymnastics stars like Silivas, Dobre,
Szabo, Ponor, Sofronie etc.
Click on the link to view the site HERE

17
June 2010

Diana Chelaru injured

Diana Chelaru has injured her
left hand during training on bars. Anca Grigoras declared forProsport: 'It was
an ordinary transition on bars and she hit her finger on the bar. It's
a
metacarpal fracture and we are waiting to hear if they are going to
put it into plaster or use a splint.'

10
June 2010

Good start for Trenca, Bellu and Bitang start
coaching

Diana
Trenca and Dana Andrei competed at the Challenge International 2010
in Belgium last weekend and both did quite well. Diana Trenca won the
competition (52.650) and Dana Andrei finished third (51.900) as she
fell off beam.

In the meantime, things have started to change for the National team.
They have moved to Izvorani, near Bucharest now and the girls have had
their first training session under the
guidance of Bellu and Bitang.
A little worrying is the sight of Raluca Haidu, who is on crutches and
has the bottom half of her leg in a kind of splint.Prosport had a
chat with Sandra Izbasa and asked her whether she was nervous for this
new phase in her gymnastics career. She explained that she's not nervous
at all and that a training session is a training session and they will
work the same amount, if not more. She is a little worried about the
fact that she needs help, especially on floor and that she counted on
Mr. Forminte and it's difficult for her on her own. She will miss his
help because he was alongside her all these years.
Sandra is working on three apparatus, floor, beam and vault where she
is training elements but not linked to the artistic movements yet. Her
training program is individualised so she can take things slow and not
force anything.
She has never worked with Bellu and Bitang before. She only had an evaluation
by the both of them when she was in the junior team at Onesti. She was
only 15 years old back then and had a lot of emotions as the coaching
couple were famous all over the world and there they were in front of
her. She's more mature now and everything depends on how much you want
to work to reach the top and she hopes that they can help the team where
they need help and that it will be good for everyone.
Mr. Bellu has said that you're the leader of the team..... Sandra: 'I'm
honoured that he has said this, it's a big responsibility and I hope
that it will pay off. It's true that in the last year I haven't been
much of a leader in the gym, during training, as the accident messed
it all up but I hope that bit by bit, everything will be as it used
to be.'
About her wish that Mr. Forminte might come back she says that she hopes
very much he will do so as they need his help greatly, they are used
to him being there and it will be very difficult
if all of a sudden he's not there anymore. He created the team since
2005 and they had good results with him.

A new face in the gym is Corina Ungureanu, who wishes to compete again
at the age of 29, she could be an example for the other girls, explains
Bellu. He also adds: 'I can only evaluate as we need to get to know
the girls better, to see each girl that is here, what they want to do
and if their wish corresponds with our wish so we can work the best
possible way.'

6
June 2010

Forminte has nothing against Bellu and
Bitang

For Mediafax, Nicolae
Forminte explained the following about his decision and his opinion
about Romanian gymnastics and Bellu and Bitang.
'I have nothing against Octavian Bellu and Mariana Bitang. I am the
last person who would
dispute their merits, most of all because I was part of their team for
a long period of time.
When I took over, you would have had to be half unconscious not knowing
what was expected from you. I think that I have suffered a major injustice.
After Europeans, I knew that this would happen. A training camp in Izvorani
followed in which a lot of stress accumulated. All the big names of
Romanian gymnastics were there but this action was taken without my
knowledge. It was, however, obvious to me. I only reproach the fact
that I have tried too much to please all parties.'
'My decision has nothing to do with pride, when you weigh the good aspects
of Romanian gymnastics, you can't let pride get in the way. I acknowledge
that I am proud, haughty,
dignified, but without these qualities you don't have the right to wear
the national colours.
Every person makes comprimises with dignity but to a certain point.
The team is more valuable than the team I took over 5 years ago because
I didn't have one senior gymnast in the team. I am satisfied with what
I have achieved in the last 5 years and finishing third in an official
competition means something. I think that I have contributed to the
81 medals as a technical team coach as well as headcoach. Moreover,
I have contributed to the 20 medals won by juniors too.'
'If I am wanted, there is still a door open for communication to continue
in a collaboration. If
they don't find a method to convince me to continue, my resignation
will remain in effect. The only one who has contacted me up until now
is Mariana Bitang and I have received an email from Anca Grigoras. However,
family obligations make that I can't stay at CS Farul earning 250 euros
a month.'

5
June 2010

Summary of recent news

As
Octavian Bellu was involved in the preparation for the Olympics in London
2012, working for
the Romanian Olympic Committee, he explained for Prosport
that he tried to help as much as he could, having worked in gymnastics
for so many years, he responded positively to the request of the Romanian
Federation to work as a coach again, for a long or short period of time,
whatever they consider best.
About the discussion who will be the new headcoach, Bellu acknowledges
that there's a hot debate going on about this topic but he stipulates
that they are a team, Mariana Bitang, Anca Grigoras and himself. He
doesn't know what is going to happen or who is going to be added to
the team.
About the new training system he explained that each coach will have
more responsibility, co-ordinate the program for each apparatus, there
are training programs and goals. They will not take over their work
but join an existing team.
Bellu will be where the team is so when the girls are in Deva, he will
be there and when they are
in Izvorani, he will go there, they will accompany them and as there
are three people in this
team, it's easier for them to divide tasks.
Bellu explains that he hopes that Nicolae Forminte reconsiders his decision
to resign as a coach because he feels he is still needed and has done
a very good job on vault. I wasn't out to be headcoach again, I've done
that for 15 years.
Bellu's explanation about the amount of gymnasts that are injured at
the moment is that they will
have to analyse and try and find out why they get injured so quickly
as he doesn't think they are more fragile than other gymnasts but he
acknowleges that it's a major problem.
As Bellu has been through 8 changes of the code, he's not worried about
it. He has read in a courageous analysis done by Forminte, that the
last Europeans were a failure, in the contrary of others who said things
were fine because they won a gold medal. What has been has been, I'm
going to look ahead.
He has the hope that Romanian gymnastics can win more gold and thinks
the potential is still there.

Nicolae Forminte, who is currently in Constanta, his home town, said
that he doesn't exclude a possibility of a collaboration with the Federation.
For Prosport he
said: 'I'm looking at the position of the Federation, in the press statements,
and because no one officially has phoned me to tell me anything, I would
like to keep the door open for a collaboration. Mrs. Bitang phoned me
yesterday to tell me that she didn't wish for my resignation and I believe
her.'
Forminte will try and find a place in the training system/schedule that
is being set up.
Forminte: 'Maybe I made a rash decision and after thinking about what
has happened, to wait and see what project they are going to put into
place, maybe I can help. I'll think about that.'

2
June 2010

Forminte handed in his resignation

Nicolae Forminte has handed in his resignation as head coach
yesterday. He felt that there
wasn't a place for him with the team due to the fact that the Federation
sought the advice of Octavian Bellu and Mariana Bitang and Forminte
felt as if they didn't have faith in his work anymore.
He does leave satisfied as he feels he leaves good gymnasts behind.
After all, Forminte picked up the pieces in 2005 when Belu and Bitang
left suddenly.

Bellu and Bitang, who were initially just asked to lend a helping hand,
have been offered the job
to lead the team and Anca Grigoras will be technical director.
For Prosport, Adrian
Stoica, head of the Federation, explained: 'The intention was to correct
a few things that didn't work with the girls. I considered it necessary
to strengthen our forces and to ask those who can support us.
Mariana Bitang explained: 'We have done nothing but to respond to the
request of the Federation, we came to help and support. I regret Nicu
Forminte's reaction, I didn't wish for this to happen, we only wanted
to do something good, to help. She also adds that they will need two
or three days to organise things and if it's necessary, they will go
back to Deva.
Both Bitang and Belu still have job obligations so they will need to
rearrange things. At the moment, training in Izvorani, is not a possibility
as the centre is full.

For Gazeta Sporturilor,
Mariana Bitang explained that she didn't know much about the gymnasts
at the moment as she hasn't attended a training session. She watched
them during the Internationals of Romania on tv. What needs to be sorted
out is the health of the gymnasts and to find out why they get injured
so often. They have done an analysis last week which needs to be looked
at and then they will see what to do.
She also stipulates that if the Romanian team finished 3rd at Europeans,
at Worlds they won't
win a medal.

On Romanian tv, Sandra Izbasa seemed clearly upset and shocked about
the entire ordeal. She explained: 'It was shocking news for me. I'm
not afraid to work with new coaches, I have had other coaches and I
can adapt to all conditions. I have tried to talk to Mr. Forminte so
he would change his mind but it was in vain. I'm not retiring, I'm trying
to do a good job and a helping hand is welcome.'

8
May 2010

Summary of European Championship

Held
at the NIA, the competition started off with the Junior teams competing
for the medals in a team competition and qualification for the AA. It
was going to be a long day as the competition started at 9.30 in the
morning and would go on until 10 in the evening.
The Romanians, competing with Larisa Iordache, Diana Bulimar, Diana
Rusu, Beatris Margarit and Madalina Neagu, were in the second subdivision
and started on vault and did reasonably well with Larisa Iordache posting
the highest score 13.875. On bars, the girls have improved tremendously
and tiny Diana Bulimar (they call her Didi) scored the highest score,
a 13.650.
On beam, still their strongest apparatus, all 5 girls competed but unfortunately
Bulimar and Iordache fell off, especially Iordache was very upset with
herself and consoled by coach Lacramioara Filip, a former member of
the Romanian senior team who competed at Worlds in
1989. Lulu, as she's called, coaches the juniors together with her husband
and former aerobics champion Cristi Moldovan and they are doing a great
job. The atmosphere in the junior team is superb.
Madalina Neagu, who had been injured and out of competition for almost
a year, proved to be very stable on beam and scored a 13.950, the highest
score in the team which earned her a place in the apparatus finals.
They were also a delight to watch on floor, especially Iordache and
Bulimar who got the crowd going and they were cheered along by their
parents, who came from Romania to watch their daughters compete, dressed
in Romanian hats, big 'gloves' and waving flags. It was so nice to
see how much they enjoyed it and how much the girls appreciated their
parents being there.
It was going to be a long wait to see the result and where the team
finished as the Russians were in the last subdivision.
After the 3rd subdivision, Giulia Leni, one of the Italian juniors was
walking through the halls of the arena crying her eyes out, talking
on her mobile phone. She had fallen off beam and
obviously thought the chance of a bronze medal was out of the window.
She seemed
inconsolable and her teammates didn't look that much happier either.
Their greatest rival would
be France, and they competed in the last subdivision so it would be
a long wait for them.
The Russians were in a class of their own, scoring such high scores,
mainly in the 14's on all of the apparatus. Grishina even scored a 15.250
on bars! and tiny Komova performed a 2.5 twist on vault, giving her
a SV of 6.5
On bars, however, they were lucky that the format only counted 3 scores
as Siderova only scored a 12.000 and Malikova scored a 12.500.
They were cheered along very very loudly (my ears are still ringing)
by the Russian seniors. They were shouting that loud, that Maria Paseka
burst out in laughter during her floor routine.
At the end of a very long day in a very very warm arena, the Russians
won, Romania was second and Italy 3rd. Giulia Leni, who had been in
tears, couldn't stop smiling now.
It was a great result for the Romanian team as 2 years ago, they finished
4th and also considering that they had to make changes at the last moment
as Anamaria Baicu and Maria Balea were injured just before Europeans.

The Russians started in the 2nd subdivision. A bit strange
was that there were only 3 gymnasts competing, so 3 up, 3 scores count,
rather than 5 gymnast compete, 3 scores count. In my opinion, the format
of the juniors is much more interesting to watch as it feels more like
a team effort.
Strangely enough, Semenova didn't do bars because she was struggling
with injuries and the coach felt it was better not to force things,
but she helped her teammates chalk up. It wasn't all plain sailing for
the Russians on bars as Kurbatova only scored 11.425 but it was well
compensated by Mustafina's 15.200 and Nabieva's 14.825.
Mustafina scored 14.750 on beam with a beautiful routine, what an elegant
gymnast she is. Semenova competed on beam but fell off and only scored
a 13.600 and 13.700 on floor. It seems like she has grown and she still
has to come to terms with that. The Russians were solid on vault so
now it was up to the rest of the teams to try and match that.
If the Russian seniors could scream loud, the French juniors are masters!
Blimey what a noise!
So, the Romanians were in the same group as the French and the British
gymnasts, great atmosphere as the crowd got well behind the home nation.
The Romanians started on bars and did fairly well, with Ana Porgras
scoring a 14.075.
The British gymnasts were on floor and Beth Tweddle scored a 14.850
for good tumbling but
there isn't much choreography to the routine.
The Romanians posted the highest team total on beam, with Raluca Haidu
scoring a 14.500, Amelia Racea a 13.900 and Ana Porgras a 14.950. Ana
is so special to watch on beam, she is
like a true ballerina, her poise is exceptional.
On floor Raluca Haidu fell so she only achieved a 12.600. Diana Chelaru
had the highest score, a 14.150.
In the meantime, the British gymnasts were struggling on beam, with
their highest score only being 13.475 for Beckie Downie.
After the qualifying competition, Russia was in the lead with 168.325,
Romania 2nd 166.800 and Great Britain 3rd with 165.300. It was going
to be a very interesting final.

If there would have been an AA, Amelia Racea would have won as she had
the highest total
score. Ana Porgras had the highest score on beam.

Junior AA

Larisa Iordache had to start her AA competition on floor and
did so with a delightful routine. (14.200).
Victoria Komova, daughter of Vera Kolesnikova who won gold with the
team in 1985, had to start on beam and was a bit wobbly. (14.100) but
Anastasia Grishina, who qualified as first, nailed her bars routine
took the lead again with a 15.225.
Diana Bulimar started on vault and scored 13.125.
Larisa, who fell off beam in the team competition, was clearly nervous
before the start and Lulu tried to calm her down which worked as she
worked very positively and got the highest score on beam of the day
with a good double pirouette and a triple twist dismount for a 14.675.
After she landed her dismount, Larisa ran down the steps and jumped
into the arms of her coach.
Tiny Diana Bulimar seemed so scared before her bars routine, standing
on the podium sighing and closing her eyes to keep focused. She was
encouraged from the side by her teammates who kept on shouting 'Come
on Didi! Come on!' and she performed a good and tidy routine. Still
showing
the nerves on her face when she was finished, coach Monica Micu said
'Didi, you managed it didn't you?' and Didi answered 'Yes! and beamed
her lovely smile and relaxed. (12.575)
Komova was impressive on floor, her double arabian front is soaring
high and it earned her the highest score on floor of the day (14.425)
Grishina struggled on beam and fell on her round-off tucked full (13.400)
but had points to spare because of her high bars score to keep ahead
of the Romanians.
Larisa vaulted a double twisting Yurchenko for a 13.625 and Didi showed
a solid beam routine to start with but then almost fell off on her spin!
and after her beam routine, walked off shaking her head as if to say
'Why on earth did I do that!' (14.150)
Komova had a massive vault with a 6.5 SV, a 2.5 twisting Yurchenko.
She had 3 steps back on landing but still scored a 14.525 because of
the vault's difficulty. She even straps her knees in to manage the vault
as it's impressive for such a tiny gymnast.
Larisa finished the competition on bars and was going well until the
Giegner where she bent her knees (13.150).
Tiny Didi finished on floor and got the crowd going again with her fast
tumbling and her nice dancing performed with a smile for a 14.325, the
3rd best score on floor of the day.
Komova went to bars and nailed the routine that she fell off with during
the team competition
and got the highest score of the day, 15.325 and Grishina finished on
vault with a 13.950.
All in all a very interesting competition to watch with inventive routines
and even though the girls are so tiny, they already have a certain degree
of elegance.

During training, with Ana Porgras and Raluca Haidu already
complaining of ankle pain, the team got another huge scare as anchor
for the team Diana Chelaru, fell off beam during training and
hit the apparatus with her ribs, giving the coaches a shock. It seemed
Diana was hurting all over but it proved to be just the shock of a nasty
fall and she pulled herself together and continued training.
Little did they know then that the competition wouldn't bring them much
more luck either. The Romanians started their competition on beam and
Raluca Haidu, first year senior, fell off on her full in but also fell
on her switch leap half so in a matter of seconds, the competition was
over before it had even started as she only scored a 12.100 and this
is the apparatus that the Romanians have to make up for their lower
scores on bars!
Amelia Racea scored a 14.100 for a good routine and Ana Porgras was
absolutely beautiful to watch, nailing one element after the other but
after her double piked dismount, she stood for a second but as she tried
to walk away, she limped and she couldn't walk down the stairs on her
own, coaches Forminte and Cosma had to carry her down. Ana scored the
highest score of the day 14.800 but it was doubtful if she would be
able to continue the competition.
Cerasela Patrascu, who didn't compete, tried to calm Haidu down, constantly
talking to her and adjusting her make up and trying to make the tiny
gymnast laugh and relax.
The Russians were strong on floor with Anna Myzdrikova landing a whip
to double Arabian (14.475) while elegant Mustafina scored a 14.400 and
Semenova a 14.150 to put the Russians in the leadover Great Britain
who were on vault.
Raluca Haidu redeemed herself and performed a better floor routine than
in qualifications (13.325) while Amelia Racea scored a 13.650 and Diana
Chelaru a 14.200.
The Russians showed 3 good vaults, all double twisting Yurchenko's although
Kurbatova wasn't completely round so was marked out of a 1.5.
Bars and Great Britain's chances for a medal would surely depend on
how Beth Tweddle would do on her favourite apparatus. The pressure for
her must have been enormous but she performed
her bars routine superbly for a 15.825, the highest score of the day.
The cheers of the crowd were deafening!
The Romanians were solid on vault with the highest score by Diana Chelaru
(14.200) but where trailing quite a substantial amount and were also
finishing on their weakest event, bars but
having said that, Great Britain had to still go to beam.
Kurbatova showed she is capable on bars after the disaster in the qualifications
and scored a 13.800 while Mustafina was super on bars, with a toe-on
Shaposhnikova-half and a Tkatchev and Jaeger for the second highest
score on bars 14.900 but now it was Tatiana Nabieva who struggled on
bars, losing her way on the top bar after a stalder and she had to jump
off
and scored 13.250.
Great Britain started very very tentively on beam with Nicole Hibbert
scoring only a 12.925,
Niahm Rippin a little better with a 13.100 so it all depended on how
Beckie Downie would get through her routine and the thing is, she has
struggled in the past. Not this time, she worked very strong and positively
and refused to give away too many points and scored a 14.100, to the
delight of the crowd.
The Romanians were still in a bit of doubt whether Ana would do bars
or not as she had to land on her already so painful ankle but after
warming up on bars, Ana was encouraged and decided
to continue for the team. Raluca Haidu started off and scored a 13.150,
Amelia Racea bettered the score with a 13.925 and Ana Porgras scored
13.700 but was clearly in pain on her landing.
The Russians did their job on beam with Mustafina scoring the highest
for the Russians with a 14.175 and then it was up to Great Britain to
see what they would do on floor and yet again, it depended on Beth Tweddle
who came through for them yet again. How she kept her concentration
with the crowd going wild after each tumbling run, I don't know but
she got a massive 14.900 giving Great Britain the silver, their first
European Team medal in European gymnastics history.
The Romanian girls seemed very disappointed, hardly managing a smile
on the rostrum.

Larisa said to Prosport
that she expected a result like this and she worked very hard to
achieve this success. She was a little bit nervous at the start but
it wore off in the course of the competition. She wasn't scared of the
Russians because she knows what she can do herself and she continued
to fight. She felt she could have done better than bronze in the all-around
competition and she will continue to train hard so she can do better
next time.

In the Senior apparatus finals Amelia Racea finished 9th in qualification
but because Ana Porgras had to withdraw, she took her place and finished
up with the gold! Raluca Haidu finished 3rd.
Diana Chelaru did well on floor but went OOB which cost her a silver
medal.
Afterwards, for Prosport
she declared that she took full advantage of the chance. Ana Porgras
encouraged her and told her to do her job and not be nervous. Amelia
feels very happy and said that she's worked 9 years for this and it
gives her a lot of encouragement.

The first test competition was in Lilleshall, Great Britain where both
Romanian teams won.
In the junior competition Romania won (Larisa Iordache, Diana Bulimar,
Anamaria Baicu, Maria Balea, Beatris Margarit and Diana Rusu) second
Germany and 3rd GB. Diana Bulimar won the AA.
In the senior competition Romania was first with a total of 221.850
versus GB 221.600
Diana Chelaru won the AA competition with 56.800, before Ana Porgras
(56.050) and Niamh
Rippin GBR (54.650)
For Prosport, Nicolae
Forminte said that it was a good test and that the girls know now where
they are in terms of preparation/training. They are still young and
lack experience but they are
a good generation and they just need time.

Last weekend both teams competed in France but instead of Diana Rusu,
Madalina Neagu competed in the junior team.
The Romanian juniors won (166.200) before France (160.50) and Great
Britain (157,950).
Larisa Iordache won the AA (55.600) before Anne Kuhm from France (53.400)
and Diana Bulimar from Romania (53.250).
The Romanian seniors also won (167.800) before France (166.550) and
Diana Chelaru won her second AA competition in a row (57.550). Youna
Dufournet from France was second (56.800)
and Raluca Haidu third (56.550)

The positive news is that Cerasela Patrascu competed during both meets,
doing vault, bars and beam.
Ana Porgras, however, is struggling a little with a thigh injury. For
Prosport she explained: 'I did
a sheep jump and I felt I pulled something (overstretched). It hurts
but I try not to take any
notice of it. It's bothering me most when I do leaps because it's that
precise leg that I put to
the back.
I work at around 60% of my potential at the moment so I can present
all the routines I did last year.'
Ana is wearing red tape on her left thigh, a treating method that comes
from kinesiology.

14
March 2010

Snippets

Claudia Voica sprained her knee during training after she dismounted
off bars and stepped in between the mat. Luckily it's nothing serious.

Sandra Izbasa is doing well with her recovery but is taking it step
by step. Sandra's father explained for Gazeta
Sporturilor that physically she's ok but mentally she still has
work to do. She wonders if she deserves to be doing gymnastics. Her
father explains that an injury like Sandra sustained, leaves it's marks
mentally.

The Romanian team will compete in Great Britain next weekend as preparation
for the European Championships held at the end of April in Birmingham.
They will have a meet against Great Britain, Germany and France.
A week later they will compete in France and then from 9-11 of April,
they will compete at the International Romanian Championships in Bucharest.
Nicolae Forminte mentions that he would rather have 2 weeks rest in
between competitions but they go where ever they are paid. He explains
that this is the situation in which they have to work.
Ana Porgras, Amelia Racea, Raluca Haidu, Diana Trenca, Diana Chelaru
and maybe Cerasela Patrascu will compete in Great Britain.
Tamarjan and Dragoi are doing well but both are struggling with weight
gain.

Prosport
reports that Gabriela Dragoi and Anamaria Tamarjan have had their operation
on the
12th of January in Targu Mures. Dragoi will need 2 months for rehab
and Tamarjan a month and a half. Both have very little chance of competing
at Europeans at the end of April but Nicolae Forminte is hoping that
he can count on both of them for Worlds.
Gabriela Dragoi has been suffering from a tear in the tibia since the
Olympics in Beijing and Anamaria Tamarjan had to have a cyst removed
from her left knee.

After members of the National team had been in quarantaine because of
Swine Flu, they are dealing with another scare as Amelia Racea has measles.
She was put into quarantaine immediately and has to have a total break
from training. Nicolae Forminte: 'We are waiting for the incubation
time to be over and we will see if any of the other girls have been
infected. We don't know how the situation is going to evolve but we
have done everything to try and stop the spreading of the disease.'

With Anamaria Tamarjan, Sandra Izbasa and Gabriela Dragoi all in rehab,
Europeans could mean the chance of the youngsters like Amelia Racea
who's 15. Forminte: 'This break will be felt in Amelia's preparation
for Europeans. We will have to rethink everything and hope that she
will be able to recover. We really need her.'

15
December 2009

Sandra is back in Deva

Prosport
reports that Sandra Izbasa is back in Deva, which is fabulous news.
Sandra: 'It's so
good to be back, it's such a joy! Time has flown by really quickly and
it seems like yesterday that I was in the hospital with my hand and
foot in a plaster cast.'
Meeting up with her teammates and coaches, and being back in Deva, was
very emotional for Sandra. When she walked into her room, she started
to cry. She remembered with which thoughts she left and she wanted nothing
more to come back. Everybody welcomed her with open arms.
Sandra gave Nicolae Forminte a bit of a fright when she climbed straight
up on to the beam. He told her to get back down immediately as she's
not allowed to force her foot!
Sandra: 'I'm not scared, everything that I felt after the accident has
gone. I went on to all the apparatus and it's ok, even floor and whie
before when I thought of floor, I felt an empty hole, now I miss doing
my routine.'

Anamaria Tamarjan has had an operation on her right knee, to deal with
the pinched meniscus
and is now getting ready for an operation on her left knee, where they
have to remove a cyst which appeared after the accident in Stuttgart
in 2007.
Nicolae Forminte: 'It will be a very difficult period for her. She will
have to work so hard in coming back and you can't neglect the pain either,
but I do think that she has the strength to do so.'

3
December 2009

Top Gym in Charleroi, Belgium
By Nicole Citroen

As a spur of the moment kind of thing, we decided to go to Charleroi
for the Top Gym
junior competition as the up and coming juniors of various countries
chose to compete at this great competition.
The atmosphere is wonderful, you are welcomed by the organising committee
with such enthusiasm and such warmth, it's a true delight to go there.

There was a training session on Friday the 27th of November. The Romanians
Larisa Iordache and Diana Bulimar came in accompanied by Monica Micu
and Cristian Moldovan, he is famous for all
the medals he won in aerobics (Trio) and now coaches the juniors together
with his wife, former gymnast Lacramioara Filip. The girls and coaches
relate so well together, chatting and smiling all the time. It was also
nice to see that some of the aerobics moves have been added to the warm
up sequence that the girls do on floor.

On to the apparatus and the training started on vault. Larisa Iordache
did quite well with her vaults, it was Diana who was struggling a little
bit so it was very unexpected when Larisa injured her knee during one
of the landings. She just landed a little bit heavy on one leg. She
fell sideways and stayed lying down on the mat. Monica and Cristi ran
over to her and a shock went through the arena because Diana injured
her ankle in last years Top Gym in the warming up
before the competition and couldn't compete! Surely this wouldn't happen
again but now to Larisa?
Cristi shouted for an ice pack and picked Larisa up to lay her down
on the mat beside the vault. She was crying and all the time he was
comforting her, rubbing her shoulder and patting her on the stomach,
trying to calm her down. He then picked her up and took her to the hospital
for
x-rays.
You could clearly see this incident affected Diana. During her training
session on bars, she missed her hand in a flight to the lower bar and
smacked her side and ribs on the bar, which was
clearly very painful. Monica tried to calm her down, talking to her
all the time.
On to beam where she fell off quite a lot during the elements and she
was almost in tears. Then Larisa came back into the arena and Diana's
face lit up. She walked over to Larisa and smiled and after that, she
did so much better on beam, knowing that her teammate was ok and there
was a chance that she would compete on the Saturday. The coaches were
going to see if her knee
was swollen or not on Saturday morning. If it wasn't, Larisa would do
a training session and they would see how she got on and they would
make a decision after that.
Diana in the meantime was doing some physical training. The layers of
carpet on the floor weren't stuck together very well in the part where
she was standing and she wanted to jump up but her feet were stuck underneath
a part of the carpet that was curled up so she hardly came of the floor.
She looked down and laughed, explaining to the coaches what had just
happened and they all laughed.
Time for the accreditation photos. Diana helped Larisa, who walked on
crutches, to take her jacket off and the girls posed for the photographer.
Some more stretching and off to a well earned rest.

The other gymnast that impressed was tiny Madison Kocian from America,
who's only 12. She is from the same gym as Nastia Liukin and has great
form in all her work. Top Gym was her first international competition.
Both Italian girls Arianna Salvi and Chiara Gandolfi looked good too,
especially Arianna has a beautiful floor routine and both looked very
fashionable in their legwarmers.
Scotland had sent two tiny tiny girls who compete at club level so this
was a great experience
for them. It appeared that the Scottish girls and the English girls
all came from the same club
but I could be wrong.

Saturday morning and of course everybody was wondering whether Larisa
would be ok. The organisation must have sighed in relief when they saw
her walk in, without her crutches but she still had to train. She warmed
up carefully and bit by bit added more pressure on her knee. The coaches
were watching her carefully, asking whether she was ok and she nodded
she was.
She worked through all her routines on the apparatus, impressing on
beam and floor. Things were fine so she was going to compete in the
evening, which was great news. She did ice her knee after the training
session, just to make sure it wouldn't start swelling all of a sudden.
While I was standing there taking photos, Diana came over to me, pointing
at my press card. I wasn't really sure what she was saying to me so
afterwards I asked the coach Monica what it was that she meant. Diana
collects press cards etc. of all the competitions she takes part in
and she was wondering if she could have mine so I promised to give it
to her at the end of the day, as unfortunately we couldn't attend the
competition on Sunday.

The gymnasts all came back in at around 4 in the afternoon for the official
warming up as the competition was going to start at 17.30.
Larisa and Diana started on vault. After Friday's scare, Larisa did
well on her full twisting Yurchenko which she nailed. The girls did
2 vaults and the highest score counted. (13.700).
Diana did a handspring somi forward. (12.750)
Madison Kocian had to start on beam and what went so well during the
training sessions, didn't go according to plan in the competition. She
fell off on a free front walk over and didn't really give herself enough
time to compose herself as she went off straight away with her sheep
jump. Her routine is packed with elements like forward somi, backwards
somi, back handspring into
piked somi and she performs everything beautifully.
On to bars for the Romanians. Larisa showed a nice stalder, full turn
into Tkatchev but had some problems on the lower bar, having to add
some swings and turns. She finished really well with a high piked full
in dismount. (11.550)
Diana had been struggling in training on bars so she looked a bit nervous
but once she started, she did very well. Her form is good, legs stuck
together and she showed a good stalder combination on the lower bar,
high Tkatchev and a high double piked dismount. She landed and her face
beamed a huge smile.
(12.700)
On beam, Larisa showed a free walkover into flick to stepout layout,
free cartwheel but almost fell off on her front somi but then straight
after that, she performed a spot on double pirouette and finished the
routine with a double twist. She had the highest SV of the field, 6.20.
(14.750)
Diana has been outscoring her teammate on beam lately and her routine
is absolutely packed
with difficulty, one element after the other but at the start she had
a wobble after her free cartwheel and her free walkover to flick, stepout
layout was not entirely connected and she fell off beam on her front
somi. Her leaps and sheep jump are very high though and she also showed
a nice split leap into piked back somi. (13.050)
Larisa had a little problem on floor during warming up after her 1 1/2
twist to front somi- front somi. She fell on the second front somi,
looked at the coach and asked what went wrong. It's amazing to see how
keen she is to get things right as she listened to what he said, nodded
and took it aboard.
During her routine on Spanish music, she has lovely dance combined with
difficult acrobatic skills. She started with a piked full, little stumble
forwards, second series handspring to full twist, then the 1 1/2 twist
to front somi front somi and she finished with a double twist. Larisa
has good presentation on floor, smiling during her dance movements.
(13.150) The gold medal was Larisa's.
Diana is so lightning fast on floor, it makes you smile. She too started
with a piked full in, then
her second series was a flick to full twist step out to flick double
somi. She fell out of her double pirouette with her leg up and stepped
out of bounds after her 1 1/2 twist to punch front but she finished
with a strong double piked somi. (13.050)
In the meantime, Belgium Julie Croket was creeping amongst the medal
winners. She's got great choreography on floor but had to step out of
bounds on her first series (full in) and almost fell on her punch layout
front, she was very low. Julie, however, is a vault specialist and that's
where she gained the advantage and won her a silver medal.
Madison Kocian, who started gymnastics in 2002, performed well on floor
but finished with a double somi. Her routine is still a little bit on
the childish side but what she does, she does very well and precise.
She's certainly one to watch for the future as she won a bronze medal.

Unfortunately we couldn't make it to the Sunday competition due to travel
times but this Top Gym competition is certainly a joy to visit with
a lovely atmosphere all around.

Qualifications:
Unfortunately Ana didn't perform well on bars, she came off the apparatus
during a turn on the low bar and scored 13.175, placing her 10th and
missing the finals.
She fell off beam on her side-somi but the rest of the routine was good
and she qualified in third place for the finals with a 13.575. Ksenia
Semenova (Rus) qualified first with a 13.925 and Luisa Galiulina from
Uzbekistan second with a 13.850.

13
November 2009

Ana Porgras and Anamaria Tamarjan are
both struggling with injuries

The team has moved to Izvorani,
near Bucharest for a change of scenary. Prosport
reports that
3 weeks ago, Ana missed an element on beam and hit the beam with her
leg and ribs. Ana: 'I
was frightened as it could have been a lot worse, that it could have
meant another break. The medical test showed that it wasn't cracked,
it was a relief.'
Ana: 'It still hurts but the bandage is holding it tight but I couldn't
train for several days. It was terrible. I can't stay away from the
apparatus.'
In order not to force things, Ana is only training on beam and bars,
the apparatus on which she will compete in the last three competitions
of this year. First one will be the World Cup in Stuttgart, Germany.

Next month she will turn 16 and shows a maturity that contradicts the
innocent look on her face. She also knows exactly what she wants and
she says that she came back from London with a
lot of experience, with the thought that anything is possible and that
more training will mean more medals. She feels more mature but also
more responsible in the way that she trains.

Her favourite apparatus is beam and she blames herself for falling at
the World Championships
due to nerves and not paying attention. She thinks that in the future
she will be able to deal
with her nerves better and that it will disappear through a lot of work.
Ana: 'I'm not afraid of
these mistakes, on the contrary, it has motivated me more.'

Next year the focus is on Europeans and Worlds but then the team result
is important to her,
not her own results. Ana: 'My job is to perform in the team and to help
my teammates. My wish for 2010 is to win medals with the team and after
that, win individual medals and that I'm healthy.'

She talks about gymnastics most of all and little about herself. Born
in Galati in 1993, few people probably know what a tough life she has
had so far. First of all, coaches Paul and Agripina Galea had to convince
her parents to leave her in gymnastics as she was so talented, mostly
Ana's father was very sceptical. Her father left the family when she
was only 8. She doesn't know where her father is at the moment. 3 years
ago, when she had just been selected for the
national team, her mother had to leave for Italy to work there. Ana's
sister, who's 2 years older, is being taken care of by an uncle.

In her free time Ana likes to draw as it relaxes her a lot.

Anamaria Tamarjan has to encounter more bad luck in
her career. Being prepared to undergo
an operation to remove a cyst on her left knee at the end of this year,
she was also diagnosed with a pinched meniscus on her right knee. Anamaria:
'It's a big blow but it also motivates me even more. I want to continue
and fight for my dream.'

21
October 2009

Ana Porgras wants to become the best gymnast in the world

'I love bars and I will continue
to work hard on this apparatus. After I won the medal, I was constantly
looking at it. I received hundreds of messages of support. My mother
says that it's an achievement to come home with a medal after my first
Worlds. I want to become the best gymnast in the world!,' said Ana for
Sport.ro and she
added that she had the worse nerves of
her life on beam.

Steliana (who's dyed her hair blond!) refused an offer to go to America
to become a coach as
she wanted to stay in Romania. At the moment, she's dividing her life
between the Faculty, friends and the process of getting the status as
a coach.
In her new flat, you can see all the memories of her career, her trophies
and medals, each one
of them has a story but Stela doesn't have the time to tell each and
every one of them. She acknowledges that she struggled a lot trying
to cope with the routine of her new life and what it required. Stela:
'I didn't know my own city. I had to learn about the circus and what
it is that a person of my age does.'
At the moment she's busy with her study and she can't wait to begin
the second year at the Faculty for Physical Education and Sport in Sibiu.

The reporter went to Rusciori with Stela, a place 10 km West from Sibiu,
where she tested some children who would like to do gymnastics and she
starts with a warming up which is so natural to her. Stela: 'Warm up
your shoulders, turn your head, do a few bridges: two up, two down.
Stretch your hand, feet apart......very good!' It was the first routine
that Steliana did as a coach. Stela: 'Today I taught them some basic
elements and it made me happy that they were alongside me. I asked her
what they wanted to do and they told me that they want to learn how
to do gymnastics.'
She wants to become a coach but first she has the intention to work
as an instructor. Stela: I need to get all the diplomas and to start
training, probably from next year. Until then, I am looking for kids
with talent, ambition and with the wish to do sport.'

Iulian Preda has known Steliana since the age of 3. The counselor of
Sibiu wants his daughter, who's 3 years old, to follow in the footsteps
of the former gymnast. Iulian: 'I hope the little one has talent. I
hope that Steliana will become coach and that she will help other children
to
achieve what she has achieved. Even though it means having to sacrifice,
I want nothing but good things for my child.'

19
October 2009

Nadia Comaneci is excited about Ana Porgras

Nadia Comaneci was present at
Worlds in London. For BBC, Nadia said: 'I think I was very impressed
by her, I hadn't seen her before. She comes from the same part of Romania,
from Moldavia, as I come from. The coaches are hesitant to compare her
to me, yet. (She laughs)
I think she's the upcoming new star, she's very different from the style
of gymnast that Romania usualy brings, very strong and tumbling usually
but Ana has long lines and she's also strong at
the same time and she's very beautiful, she's very new. This is her
3rd big competition and she's very nervous.' (You see Nadia talk to
Ana, trying to calm her down, holding her shoulders and Nicolae Forminte
is standing next to them, smiling. Ana looks up to Nadia and nods every
time
she says something. It's really sweet to see.)
Nadia: 'I just talked to her and she told me that she has competition
nerves and that she's very scared. I said to her: 'Do you remember the
best routine you've done in training and she said
yes, and I said 'This is the one you have to do today, you don't have
to do more or less than
you know.'

Unfortunately Ana was still very nervous and fell off beam but it's
all a learning curve. She performed beautifully on floor, she's a true
ballerina on floor. She has a very bright future and then to think that
she almost retired from gymnastics after her injury. She sat on the
bench outside the gym with her bags packed and she was ready to go home
but Steliana Nistor told
her not to give up and she listened to her and stayed in Deva.

After her bars routine in the apparatus finals, where she won bronze
and that's the first time
that a Romanian gymnast has won any medal on bars at Worlds since Oana
Petrovschi in 2002!, Ana said for Adevarul:
' I made it through my routine on bars and that was the most important
thing. After the last gymnast Rebecca Bross from America performed her
routine, I wasn't too sure but I sighed with relief in the end. It's
a present for Mr. Forminte for his birthday. I didn't count on a medal
on bars. I hope I won't be too nervous on beam, I think it will be ok
if I work as well as I did on bars. I qualified first on beam so why
wouldn't I finish first? I dedicate this bars medal to all the coaches
who have trained me and to my family.'

About her fall off beam in the AA she said: 'I don't like to have to
wait too long before I start my routine on beam but I could have been
more attentive. I need to concentrate more and to
detach myself from what is happening around me so that it's just the
beam and me. I had to
wait too long before the judges gave me the green light and I couldn't
control my emotions.'

Nicolae Forminte said:' As I had explained already, before Sandra Izbasa's
accident, Ana was ready for beam and bars for these World Championships
but after what happened to Sandra, I had to change my plans at the last
minute and she had to compete AA.' On Saturday, he
explained: 'Tomorrow she will compete in two more finals in which she
has to do what I advised her to do today and she succeeded and I hope
with all my heart that she will succeed to do her routines well on Sunday
too.'

For Cotidianul,
Nicolae Forminte explained: 'Anamaria Tamarjan competed well in the
AA, without mistakes but she's a team player and not a gymnast for the
AA. For Anamaria and for Gabriela Dragoi these Worlds could be the end
of their career. Tamarjan expressed her wish to continue after Europeans
but she was constantly swinging between continuing and retiring.
As far as Dragoi is concerned, she has these problems with her leg of
which nobody knows how it will end. She seems to do ok but when she
encounters too many problems, she struggles with thoughts of retiring.'

Ana Porgras performed 7th and
did well, just slight mistakes on her leg form and she was a little
late on her 1.5 turn on the high bar but she nailed her double layout
dismount and finished 3rd, together with Rebecca Bross who was up last
but also encountered some leg form problems and
a step on landing.
It's the first time since 2002 that Romania has won a medal on bars
at Worlds.
He Kexin was the favourite to win and she did just that although she
was crooked after her flight element combination.

Before
Ana Porgras went to London, she said that her dream was to fight for
a medal. She knew it was going to be difficult as she's naturally an
emotive person and she knew she would be quite nervous. She really wanted
to go to London and make everybody proud of her.
Well, needless to say that she did just that. Ana, who won the gold
medal on beam at the Junior Europeans last year, had major surgery on
her knee tendon following that competition and has fought so hard to
get back to world level gymnastics. Even at the Romanian Nationals a
few weeks ago, she was still getting used to competing on all 4 apparatus!
Before the AA, Ana said: 'I think my nerves will be my biggest opponent
but I have to get
through it and do how I know to do best. No competition is the same
and we all start from zero.'

Ana started on vault, her weakest apparatus. She
performed a very good single twisting Yurchenko but the judges were
a bit harsh on her this time and she only received a 13.675 which put
her way down the field straight away as her main adversaries Bridget
Sloan and Rebecca Bross performed a DTY and scored so much higher, respectively
14.825 and 14.525.
Anamaria Tamarjan started on beam and did so much better than qualifications
for a 14.125.
Bars have been a weak apparatus for the Romanians for quite some time
but Ana worked so hard on this apparatus and it is paying off. She showed
good stalder work and a 1.5 pirouette to Jaeger and a slight hop on
her double layout dismount for a 14.675 and it moved her up from
11th to 6th.
Tamarjan found another menace and this time it was floor where she only
scored a 13.600
On to beam and it was here where she would have to make up ground as
this is her favourite apparatus but unfortunately she was made to wait
an eternity as the judges were struggling with Lauren Mitchell's score.
She started well though but came to grief on her layout somi. The rest
of her routine was superb but the damage was done. She came off the
podium and walked over to coach Lili Cosma and shrugged her shoulders
while Lili kissed her on the forehead. She was
now in 5th position.
Tamarjan vaulted well, DTY for a 14.275.
On to floor where Ana performs so elegantly, it's a delight to watch
her dance but she finished with a simple double tuck somi. (14.025)
which put her into 7th.
The fight for gold and silver would be between the two Americans, the
youngest and inexerperienced one being in the lead after 3 rotations.
Sloan was up first though and nailed her routine. (14.200)
Rebecca Bross had a lead of 1.275 so surely her gold medal would be
in the bag but nope, on her very last tumbling pass she fell on her
barani and put her hands down, only getting a 12.875 so the gold was
Sloan's by 0.05.

Ana Porgras and Anamaria Tamarjan were the gymnasts who were picked
to do the AA for Romania, Diana Chelaru was going to do vault and floor
and Gabriela Dragoi bars and beam.
Gabriela started in the 1st subdivision and showed a good toe on 1.5
to Jaeger but a low Gienger for a 14.150 (11th) and scored a 13.800
(18th) on beam so no finals for Gabi.
Diana Chelaru also competed in the first division. Her DTY scored a
14.225 but her second vault only received a 12.900 which put her 15th.
On floor she only scored a 13.475 and finished 15th so she too didn't
make it into the finals.
Ana Porgras competed in the 3rd subdivision and started on bars where
she did very well,
showing a 1.5 pirouette to Jaeger, good stalder work and a high double
layout dismount (14.575)
Her beam routine is just breath taking with free walkover flick to layout,
high sheep jump, good change leg ring leap and a double pike dismount.
(14.850)
Her floor routine is so elegant and the double spin with her leg along
her ear is superb (14.175).
She only performs a single twisting Yurchenko on vault which will surely
be upgraded in the
future. (13.700) Ana qualified as 2nd AA, 7th on bars, 1st on beam and
3rd on floor.
Anamaria Tamarjan was up in the next subdivision and started well on
vault with a DTY (14.225). She wasn't as good as Porgras on bars (13.700)
and fell off beam (12.900) and was also a little wobbly on her landings
on floor (13.425) for 12th AA.